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I work with a few people who seem to work non-stop, but they don’t ever get anything done. I receive emails from these people at 2:00 or 3:00 am and on the weekends. I personally have to question why they are working so much. Based on their performance, it is not because they are overly busy.

One of the people I’m referring to has the exact same job, duties, and responsibilities as I do. However, his workload is half what mine is and he takes twice as long to accomplish the same tasks as I do while recurring more assistance from other people than I do. I am not highlighting this in order to promote myself. I just don’t understand how someone can log an additional 20 to 30 hours a week more than I do and accomplish significantly less.

These are the same people that show up to meetings without having reviewed the documents the meeting is over. The rest of the attendees for the meeting have to tolerate these people “reviewing the documents in real time”. I do not have time to wait for these people to catch up. If you’re not going to show up prepared for the meeting, don’t waist mine and everyone else’s time. They also answer either or questions with yes or no answers. Please for the love of god take the time to read what I’ve written. I don’t want to pick up the phone and call you in order to get the answer to the question I’ve already asked.

I think the reason behind this lack of output is that these people merely show up. They think that if they are always doing something or are logged in or at their desk that they will be seen as productive. Meanwhile they spend the majority of their time on Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Instagram, or any other black hole of productivity. I’m not saying I don’t take little breaks through out my day and check these sight because I do. But I have the attitude that I want to produce as much and accomplish as many tasks as possible during the eight hours a day I spend in the office. I despise overtime, maybe that’s because I no longer am eligible for time and a half. I know there are certain times that require me to work overtime, but I treat these as exceptions to the rule. I bust my ass trying to avoid overtime.

In today’s workplace simply showing up will not provide job security for anyone. Actual output is measured and will be used to measure your value to any organization. No one is impressed that you work on the weekends. No one cares that you send out emails while they’re sleeping. When I get a work email at an odd hour, I am NOT impressed. I instantly wonder what is wrong with you. Why can’t you get your work done during the day time like most other people. The days of punching in on a time clock are coming to an end. You have to be able to match the output of other people in your organization.